Finding Environmentally-friendly Bedding in Ottawa

Ottawa is home to Sleeptek, one of the first and one of the best manufacturers of environmentally-friendly bedding. Sleeptek manufactures the Obasan line of organic beds, mattresses, futons, pillows, comforters (duvets), mattress pads, and barrier cloths right here in Ottawa.

To quote from their catalogue: “Our first priority at Obasan is to provide chemical-free, handcrafted products that you will enjoy every night for years to come. We combine the finest environmentally-sound materials with pride of craftsmanship.” The Obasan web-site is chronically “under development,” however there is a form on it that you can fill out and they’ll send you a catalogue via snail mail.

Or even better, you could visit their showroom. I’ve been to their showroom and I’ve lain on their natural rubber, wool and organic cotton mattresses and I must confess I was an instant convert. When my current mattress wears out I will return to Sleeptek and buy one of theirs. In the meantime, I did purchase one of their Saguenay 5000 natural rubber pillows. Sleeping with this pillow has noticeably improved my neck comfort and reduced my dust-mite allergies. And best of all, when it’s all worn out (in 2o years or so) I can put my pillow in the composter. A product that is environmentally friendly through its entire life-cycle.

As for organic cotton sheets, pillowcases, towels etc. Arbour Environmental Shoppe in the Glebe carries a good selection made by Coyuchi in India. They also carry Under the Nile organic cotton bedding from Egypt for babies and children. The super-soft organic cotton receiving blanket made by Under the Nile has become our standard babyshower gift and all the parents we’ve given one to give it rave reviews.

Finally, New Morning Futons on Bank Street in Old Ottawa South sells comforters/duvets, mattress pads, and pillows that are stuffed with wool instead of synthetics. Wool is a renewable resource, it’s compostable when you’ve finished using it and it controls moisture and dust mites.

We have a latex core mattress and it’s very nice. Water resistance is provided by both a wool water stop blanket, and an organic cotton mattress pad. Now I want one of their mattresses for our bed too.

I’m very interested in the organic mattresses. However, I’m noticing that one of the main components contained in these mattresses is rubber/latex. To avoid problems associated with a latex sensitivity, I am searching for a latex free organic mattress? Do you offer this type of product?

After purchasing their mattress (Manufacturer: Natura World, Line: Green, Model: “Pure”) and bringing it home I read the little white label that says that the product legally meets fire retardancy standards and not to remove unless you’ve purchased the product and yada ya….

This product contains Polyurethane foam!!! The ingedient is hidden under the descriptions of “high quality quilting foam,” and “this mattress is 98% natural.” Both I and the owner of the store I purchased the product from called the company and found out that the cover OVER the all-natural latex contains an inch of polyurethane memory foam! Now, anybody who is conscienscious enough to buy an organic, natural (what does that word even mean these days?), green or “environmentally friendly mattress” knows that this is the FIRST substance in mattresses to avoid!

Less important, but also worth noting that the company tries to skirt around and carefully word their advertising descriptions to evade…
The fire retardancy standards are not met with the wool (as the advertising for this product would lead one to believe), the sides are doused in Boron (they hide behind that one by advertising “natural fire retardant” which is true, but this is an added factor in the evidence that this company is trying to cut corners and mislead their customers. The cover and top of this mattress are also made of a “60% cotton, and 40% polyester blend, although the advertising description just states “natural cotton.”

Finally, the bright green shiny tag on the mattress states that “this product is free from all harmful chemicals and substances!” I can handle the cotton polyester blend and the boron flame retardant but regarding the 1 inch of polyurethane foam that tops this mattress, it is safe to say that this statement is an outright lie, as I got the head customer service representative I spoke to over the phone to admit to me.

The other two mattresses in Natura’s “Green” line also contain this polyurethane foam in addition to the above, and are advertised as I believe, 93% and 92% natural.

Further, this company also produces many “conventional latex mattresses” (about 17 or so), but the latex used is trademarked as “NaturLatex”….. and is mostly synthetic!… 60% synthetic and 40% natural, specifically. The company does not try to lie about this, but actually touts the synthetic blend as being superior to all-natural latex. However, the name which they chose to trademark their synthetic blend is quite misleading, to me.

Although on the contrary, I have only heard good things about their truly Organic, “Eco” line (although they are very pricy), clearly, this company, Natura World, does not have the best interests of the discerning customer or the “organic and/or natural” movement in mind. Their marketing is deceptive in more than one instance and when I called to question these marketing tactics, I was treated rudely by the company representative and told that “see we cannot actually change the physical properties of the mattress you purchased (although that is only the tip of the issue!) and this is purely an issue between yourself and the store you bought our product from.”

I am not saying that for a substantial price, Natura is not producing a few truly organic and truly environmentally conscienscious products (although from what I hear, even the all organic cotton/wool all-natural latex Eco-Line is manufactured in the same facility as their conventional mattresses (of which there are many models), chemicals, toxic fumes, off-gassing and all. However, their marketing for the majority of their products is deceptive, misleading, and dishonest, and they do not provide nearly the amount of product information as companies such as Savvy Rest does. Their customer service leaves something to be desired.

This is NOT a truly Eco-friendly company. If you are really looking to both get a truly organic and/or natural product, as well as do your part to support the environmentally sustainable, organic movement, choose another more stand-up mattress company such as Sleeptek, Savvy Rest, or Suite sleep.

We visited the Sleeptek showroom today, and I have to say that after trying out some of the beds, I was very impressed. They seemed quite comfortable.

Technically, they don’t have a money-back trial period as some other latex manufacturers do, but we were told that if we were unhappy with the mattress, they would try as much as possible to work with us for a solution.

It’s quite an investment, but they were so comfortable that we are thinking about making the purchase.

I am looking for an organic CRIB mattress cover to go over a crib mattress that is a couple of years old. I’m concerned with the gasses and chemicals in the mattress and need something in the next month as my baby is due in early April. If someone could email me your phone information and store location, that would be great.

Just to let everyone know that Sleeptek has moved to 155 Colonnade Rd. S. Unit 1. The new store also changed name, it’s now called: “The Obasan Store”.
Come visit us and see our products. We now offer 90 days comfort guarantee.
Thank you.

Hi Jonathan
I have been trying to get pricing info on your Forillon line (5500 and 5700)for a standard king mattress set.
Can you please educate me as to whether I need a slat or spring foundation?
Thanks and congratulations on your new location.

Thank you for your question and sorry for not replying earlier. It’s best to email us directly to get a faster response. To answer you question, the Forillon 5500 king size mattress is $2039 and the Forillon 5700 king size mattress is $1919. Both are very good mattress, you should come try to them for yourself.

For the foundation, we recommend solid wood slats for any mattress, when buying an organic mattress, it’s very important to have it on wood slat, to allow the mattress to breathe properly and to have it supported properly.

A few days ago we received our new mattress from Obasan (formerly Sleeptek) and they now customize their organic mattresses for each sleeper. This is an amazing option considering my wife and I have always had to compromise for each other since I have a much bigger build than her. The staff were the most knowledgable of any mattresses stores we’ve ever been to and took good care to make sure we were properly fitted for our body and sleeping positions. I would highly recommend this store and be sure to try out Acadia 3.0 model which we purchased, it is so comfortable and supportive, I haven’t slept this well in years!

Thank you for the great review! The Acadia 3.0 Natural Rubber mattress is a fantastic mattress allowing custom support on either side of the mattress. The big bonus with this mattress: in a few years, if you decide to change your comfort level it can be done very easily by opening your mattress and switching the layers!